The two officials who come to arrest Rubashov are young and old. The young one is violent and angry, a young man who seems ready to use his pistol at a second's notice. The older man is respectful, almost kind to Rubashov. The differences in these two men is representative of their place in the Party. One trying to use violence to keep order while the other is promoting logic. This theme is continued throughout the novel as Rubashov constantly compares the current Party to the Party he joined decades before.